Fairmont High School - Maple Leaves Yearbook (Fairmont, WV)

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-gf nies E All stories as to his size had been the same. He was said to be large enough to swallow one whole frog at one mouthful, and only the boldest of field mice swam across his pool. All the men at the lodge had been trying their skill with hook and line and had found him to possess, along with his size, a remarkable reasoning power, and few had secured a rise from him. Among those yearning for this wonderful prize was Pierre La Rue, a young French lawyer who had made a wonderful success in the courts of America and who always took his vacations at this quiet hunting lodge. For two seasons Pierre had gone back to his work without his prize, and at the beginning of the third season he came back determined to capture the giant bass. As he sat on the edge of the pool one morning he accidentally pushed his case of artificial flies into the pool, and to his horror found that he could not recover them. N He went back to the lodge and asked for more bait, but found that they could only supply him with a very poor grade of artificial flies. He was very much troubled, because he knew that it would be a day before the other anglers arrived with more bait. However, he decided to make the best of the afternoon, and so he took a few sandwiches and went for a walk down the stream. His steps led him to the pool. Here he sat and gazed at the clear water. As he sat there gazing, to his surprise his sight fell upon one of his best flies floating on the water. It was a white fluffy feather with black specks to represent eyes and with sharp hooks cunningly concealed in its center. If ever there was such an insect that looked any- thing like it, it had never been in that part of the country. However, he thought it to be his best Hy and was about to grab it when he noticed a dark shadow under it and instantly recognized it to be the big bass. Now not one foot away from this white fluffy object was floating a real fly whose wings were wet and who was vainly trying to rise from the water. To Pierre's great surprise, the bass raised his big head, opened his enormous mouth, and swal- lowed the real fly. Then without paying the least attention to the six dollar fly swam slowly away. Pierre La Rue walked back to the lodge and spent an hour in his room before coming down to dinner. The next morning all the other anglers arrived with their trunks fairly packed with artificial flies, brightly painted balls of fur to represent field mice, and other highly priced baits which they had collected during the winter. Pierre, however, did not accept any offers of loans from them, but made his way to the pool quietly and with a smile on his face. Every one was greatly amused when he tossed a live moth on the water with a hook fastened under one wing, but their smiles soon vanished when he had pulled in two good sized bass. He then tried a large horse fly in one of the deepest part of the pool, and two large jaws instantly closed over it. Then ensued a battle which lasted for twenty minutes, twenty minutes of the most thrilling sport in the world. If ever you have occasion to visit Pierre La Rue's office you will see directly over his desk a large bass neatly stuffed, and of which he takes the greatest care. He refers to it as one of his greatest victories in life, and credits it to that most desirable trait, common sense. ERLE SAMPLE, '24-. -mmlkrf ' ' T ff-irrkzg Page One Hundred Twenty-Nine

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MAIDLE LEAVE The knight spoke never a word but silently let down the drawbridge. Sir Richard looked askance, but deigned not to speak again, when his first speech had met with such a rebuff. The first thing he noticed was a narrow flight of stairs. This is no ordinary castle, thought he. A servant approached with a lantern and motioned for Sir Richard to follow him. Richard started to speak, the servant quickly raised his hand to his lips and in all the ways he could without speaking, made Sir Richard feel he must be quiet. By this time Sir Ric-hard's head was so bemuddled he could hardly think. They seemed, he remembered in a vague sort of way, to be going through a narrow passage not more than eight feet in width, when suddenly a great burst of light greeted his eyes, and for a moment he could not see. The guide had conducted him to a room ablaze with a myriad of torch lights. At the far end of the great hall was seated on a throne a King with a golden crown on his head and an ermine robe about his stately form. The crown was studded with rubies, which were in the form of the word Pleasure. King Pleasure had numer- ous followers, seated around his throne, among them Folly, Greediness, Vice, Dis- sipation. The king stepped from the throne and, addressing Richard, said, You have at last come to worship me, I see. I have been watching you in my magic tapestry for four years now, wondering when you would come to my courtf, Oh, no! remonstrated Richard, good sir, I but seek shelter from the storm. The sounds of rcvelry had grown louder and louder while Richard had been talking to the king, and the knight was almost sickened by the drowsy and sloppy appearance of the knights, and their gluttonous feasting. Some fell over the table and lay there, too lazy to move. The king looked at Richard, then continued: You are not willing to admit your purpose, said Pleasure, but I fully understand, and Richard was led away to the far end of the room where the sounds of rcvelry and mirth-making was al- most deafening. Richard resolved at the first chance he got to slip away quietly, and not let foolish Pleasure know. He somehow felt as though he were a prisoner, for every- where he went he was followed by the watchful eyes of Pleasure and his followers. The sun rose and Richard was still trying to form a plan by which he might escape. But even now he felt the watchful eyes of Pleasure on him. Rushing from the table he swiftly ran down the corridor through which he had come in, the evening before. The inky blackness for a minute startled him, but soon he was able to see. He could still hear the boisterous laughter and the sound maddened him. Richard galloped far, far away, resolving never again to seek Pleasure A FISH STORY EVV people had seen the big black bass that was said to live in the deep pool under the water fall. Once when the sulphur from the mines far above had cleared the already clear water, the old game warden claimed to have seen him. Again one summer night a little French boy while hunting for frogs had seen him lying motionless in the clear water on the far side of the pool. A few more lucky ones had seen him but always by chance. Page One Hundred Twenty-Eight

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